The present invention generally relates to the meat industry, specifically the invention relates to meat products which are primarily intended for pets, in particular for cats and dogs, or other domestic animals, whose feeding diet includes natural meat. More particularly, the invention relates to a food product simulating the natural meat chunks or pieces and a method for producing same.
The closest prior art over the present invention may serve a cat food that simulates natural meat chunks, produced by Nestle Purina PetCare Deutschland (Germany), which is commercially available today in a number of the countries of Western Europe. The photographs of the samples of the food product according to the present invention and the closest prior art food are attached herein.
The closest prior art pet food is characterized by the presence of discrete pieces the exterior surfaces of these pieces not have a distinctly defined surface structure resembling the structure of natural meat.
The practice of marketing the food products of this type has shown that the foods having indistinctly distinguishable surface structure or texture are perceived by a potential consumer, the pet owner, as a vegetable meat analog produced by using meat-free materials with the addition of natural flavors and other auxiliary additives, thereby making the product unacceptable by its organoleptic properties for consumers. This eventually would affect unfavorably the level of consumer demand.
The method for producing a food product which is described herein has not been found in the state of the art.